DAPPMAN denies demanding N1.5trn Subsidy Dangote refinery.
The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has denied claims that its members demanded an annual subsidy of N1.5 trillion from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. The refinery had alleged that DAPPMAN made this demand to enable its members match the refinery’s gantry prices at their depots. However, in a recent appearance on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme, DAPPMAN’s spokesperson, Nkem Ohia, dismissed the allegation as “completely ridiculous.”
“We don’t know where he arrived at that. Because the key thing here is he alleges and it’s for him to establish and prove. Far from it, we are not asking for a N1.5 trillion subsidy,” Ohia stated. He emphasised that DAPPMAN is instead focused on negotiating with the refinery to explore ways of bridging operational gaps.
Ohia further clarified that DAPPMAN is interested in collaboration with Dangote Refinery, not conflict. “Even before he commenced production, we reached out to him to allow us to collaborate with him and be able to take products in bulk. It has been one of back and forth. Understanding has not been firmly reached,” he explained.
DAPPMAN, he noted, favors a wholesale approach for distributing petroleum products, where members can lift products in bulk with vessels of at least 30,000 metric tons. He added that the association believes an open-door policy would benefit the country, rather than a selective distribution model. “Instead, he prefers to work with a few select partners, which has excluded DAPPMAN. It has one or two members of DAPPMAN,” Ohia concluded.
